"... TO GIVE UNTO THEM BEAUTY FOR ASHES, THE OIL OF JOY FOR MOURNING, THE GARMENT OF PRAISE FOR THE SPIRIT OF HEAVINESS; THAT THEY MIGHT BE CALLED TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,THE PLANTING OF THE LORD, THAT HE MIGHT BE GLORIFIED." ISAIAH 61:3

Monday, March 17, 2014

Last week we shared the first half of our journey.
We left Colorado, had a great vacay in Arkansas and Missouri, and had Christmas at home for the first time in five years!
We left mom and dad's right after the new year.
What followed was a blur of hotels, fast food,
plains, trains, and automobiles ...

And now, for the rest of the story!

Texas BBQ!

Goodnight, Dallas!

DFW

and we're waiting . . .

and waiting . . .

Finally winging our way to MD.

Quick dinner in Baltimore.

Up and out early!

Our chariot awaits.

BWI

Military terminal - nice!

Not bad for airport food!

Love my man. If we're not two hours early - we're late!

Bo took this beauty. Sunset over the Atlantic.

Half way there!

Touchdown-woohoo! Thank goodness for the wonderful
USO who kept the coffee and cocoa poured,

while we waited on the world's slowest baggage carousel.

The luggage took a seeming eternity to arrive. But customs was a breeze, and no trouble with our paperwork or passports. PTL!
All we had to do was relax and wait. At least we'd finally arrived, right?
Wellll, almost.
Seems there's a little matter of a six hour bus ride from Ramstein to Hohenfels! Funny how no one thought to mention that little nugget of info!

Only about a dozen people on our bus. Could've been worse.

We stopped half way to grab lunch. The driver took us to this wonderfully exotic local flavor. Maybe you've heard of it ...

After six days and 6,000 miles, we had finally reached our destination.

And after over 20 hours of continuous travel -

THIS.WAS.HEAVEN!!!

Army guest house.

We stayed on post in 'temporary, temporary' housing for two days.
We were then moved down the road to our 'permanent, temporary' abode.
It was in a little village called Hormansdorf.

The guest house was wonderful! The owners cater to military all the time and were a great 'practice run' for us as far as language and customs.
Our first true German meal was the breakfast buffet.
Breads, sausages, cheeses, and spreads - most of which I liked, none of which I knew the name!
We learned that dogs are welcomed just about anywhere people are, so this little guy met us in the dining room.

Dinner at the Scholl Gasthof. Loved it!

Joey bought a beater for driving to work and back. So glad! They said it would be weeks before we got our car from the states.

We dub thee Ivan!

Our first walk about was breathtaking. It was misty and quiet and beautiful.

We stayed in the guest house about two weeks before getting a house.
Couldn't believe our luck! Off post military housing in a great location!

YEAH! FURNITURE!

yeah. boxes.

I guess vacation is over.

We're loving our new home, but missing all of you.
Please keep us in your prayers.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

This was an incredibly long, drawn-out move.
We wanted to scream, cry, pull our hair out, thank you for your prayers!

If a thousand words is still the worth of a picture, and since I'm feeling a little word-poor at the moment, how about we play catch-up with a slide show?

November was when this move really started, well, moving.
Midway through the month we started our 'last hurrah' tradition.
Usually before we move everyone gets to choose their fav place (or two) to visit one last time.

Near Turquoise Lake

Cheyenne Canyon

One of the many beautiful parks in CS

Farmer's market in old city

Fav book store

Joey's fav New York style pizza

Mountain Shadows restaurant in old downtown.Best breakfast in the Springs!

Crave Burger! Look at the plates and you'llknow why we only went once in two years.'Sinfully delicious!'

Marigold's. Our absolute favorite.

Garden of The God's

Garden of The God's

Monday of Thanksgiving week, movers team 1 packed and loaded everything that would be stored stateside.
Tuesday, movers team 2 came to pack everything else.
Wednesday, movers team 'hey-let's-drop-the-flat-screen' came to load the truck.

We hit the road and headed to Arkansas! It had been five years since we'd been home for Christmas, so we were all excited.

Let's roll!

We said goodbye ...

to our beautiful view of the Continental Divide.

Shelby tumbleweed wrangling in Dodge City.

Chillin' in Wichita KS.

Glad to be out of the car -

all of us!

Misty, moisty, morning somewhere in the Heartland.

This one is pretty self-explanatory.

Home for a happy, happy, happy Christmas!!!

Daddy's girls!

Silver Dollar City ...

... definitely gets you in the Christmas spirit.

Grandma Carol...

And her farm menagerie

This is little Fred,

and Red, and J.D.

A trip to Eureka Springs.

A week at Table Rock Lake in Branson.

We joined FBC!We'll be watching online, of course.

Bo was saved 7 yrs ago. She decided it was timeto conquer those nerves and be baptized -by Poppy, of course!

Our sweet "baby". So happy!

Just a few other things thrown in for fun -

Shelby gave us a scare!

We had Harry Potter theme night!

Helena Ravenclaw was there, along with anasty dementor.

We weren't sure when we'd have another...

so we made it a good one with a movie marathon!

We girls each got a new do. I asked for a "soft wave" but came out with this hot mess. Hellooo '80's!

But Bo wins the bravery award for going from this -

to this adorable 'Pixie' cut!

Believe it or not, this lovely ladyretired this year!

We had to get her something special ...

Woohoo! Trust me, if this 40-something had to go three years without seeing her parents every day or so, there would be major 'weeping and gnashing of teeth'. Oh yeah! You know it! Face Time is a gift from God!

Well I think that's plenty for now. I'll share more soon.
Thanks again for all of your prayers, notes, and calls.

*About Bo - She's ok. Nothing life threatening. (Dizziness, Fainting, Foggy Brain) But we're still trying to figure out what's up with our sweet girl. She's had a few appointments since arriving here. They've checked blood, heart, brain...
Good docs and lots of prayer. We have faith she'll be good as new very soon!

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11